During three years of unparalleled violence in Baltimore, Charm City delivers an unexpectedly candid, observational portrait of those left on the frontlines. With grit, fury, and compassion, a group of police, citizens, and government officials grapple with the consequences of violence and try to reclaim their future.
Last Days of Solitary (2017)
In 2011, Maine State Prison launched a pioneering reform program to scale back its use of solitary confinement. Bafta and Emmy-winning film-maker Dan Edge and his co-director Lauren Mucciolo were given unprecedented access to the solitary unit - and filmed there for more than three years. The result is an extraordinary and harrowing portrait of life in solitary - and a unique document of a radical and risky experiment to reform a prison. The US is the world leader in solitary confinement. More than 80,000 American prisoners live in isolation, some have been there for years, even decades. Solitary is proven to cause mental illness, it is expensive, and it is condemned by many as torture. And yet for decades, it has been one of the central planks of the American criminal justice system.
Step (2017)
The senior year of a girls’ high school step team in inner-city Baltimore is documented, as they try to become the first in their families to attend college. The girls strive to make their dancing a success against the backdrop of social unrest in their troubled city.
Acts of Violence (1985)
A riveting expose about the personalities of murderers and their motives. This 72 minute film covers the McDonalds' restaurant massacre, President Reagan's assassination attempt, serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas and others.
Heroin King of Baltimore: The Rise and Fall of Melvin Williams (2013)
Baltimore City officials asked drug kingpin Melvin Williams to stop the riots happened following Martin Luther King's assassination. After helping the authorities out, Williams was then labeled a threat, framed and incarcerated by a hypocritical society.
The L.A. Riots: 25 Years Later (2017)
HISTORY brings you an all-encompassing documentary event cantered around the 25th anniversary of the LA Riots, the most destructive riot in American history that left 53 people dead and caused over a billion dollars in damage.
The Raft (2019)
In 1973, five men and six women drifted across the Atlantic on a raft as part of a scientific experiment exploring the origins of violence and sexual attraction. Nobody expected what ultimately took place on that 3-month journey. Through archive material and a reunion of the surviving members of the expedition, this film tells the hidden story of the project.
Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)
Hollywood is a town of tinsel and glamour; but there is another Hollywood, a place where maverick independent exploitation filmmakers went toe to toe with the big guys and came out on top.
Obaida (2019)
OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.
Fake Blood (2017)
Rob Grant and Mike Kovac receive a disturbing fan video inspired by their previous horror movie Mon Ami, motivating them to investigate the responsibility of filmmakers in portraying violence in movies. In their pursuit of the truth they are unwittingly introduced to the real world of violent criminals and their victims.
Scenes from a Teenage Killing (2011)
Travelling the length and breadth of Britain, the film explores the impact of teenage killings on families of different religion, race and class.
The First World War (1934)
Produced by the Fox Movietone News arm of Fox Film Corporation and based on the book by Lawrence Stallings, this expanded newsreel, using stock-and-archive footage, tells the story of World War I from inception to conclusion. Alternating with scenes of trench warfare and intimate glimpses of European royalty at home, and scenes of conflict at sea combined with sequences of films from the secret archives of many of the involved nations.
The Killing of America (1981)
A documentary of the decline of America. Featuring footage (most exclusive to this film) from race riots to serial killers and much, much more.
League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis (2013)
Drawing on the book of the same name, League of Denial crafts a searing two-hour indictment of the National Football League’s decades-long concealment of the link between football related head injuries and brain disorders.
Santa Teresa & Other Stories (2015)
In the fictional city of Santa Teresa, located on the border between Mexico and USA, the researcher Juan de Dios Martínez straddles the line between journalism and detective work. Based on an unfinished book by Roberto Bolaño, his character investigates a handful of crimes and abuses perpetrated on women and workers of the zone.
Prime Evil (2000)
Eugene de Kock, nicknamed "Prime Evil," was South Africa's most notorious government assassin under the apartheid regime. A highly decorated and powerful man, he led police death squads against enemies of the state; his victims were mainly connected with the ANC. The film includes interviews with torture victims and with friends of de Kock.
Rubble Kings (2015)
Through archival footage Nicholson tells the story of the real Warriors that walked the streets of New York City in the 1970s and the harsh reality of gang life in a city that seemed to be falling apart.
Hiding in the Walls (2022)
Hiding in the Walls unwinds the fraught history of lead poisoning in Baltimore and follows the adult survivors who are on a mission to reclaim the narrative.
Feminicides (2020)
While in 2019, 150 women were killed by their spouse or their ex-companion in France, the journalists of Le Monde created an investigation unit within their editorial staff to decipher these feminicides. With methodology, they highlighted a recurrent criminal pattern and characterized the signals that led to the murders of these women. Through the testimonies of the entourage of the victims and the institutions, this film analyzes five emblematic cases of feminicides and traces the evolution of the romantic relationship from the meeting to the murder. This documentary warns of the collective blindness of society in the hope of causing global awareness.
12 O’Clock Boys (2013)
Pug, a wisecracking 13 year old living on a dangerous Westside block, has one goal in mind: to join The Twelve O'Clock Boys; the notorious urban dirt-bike gang of Baltimore. Converging from all parts of the inner city, they invade the streets and clash with police, who are forbidden to chase the bikes for fear of endangering the public. When Pug's older brother dies suddenly, he looks to the pack for mentorship, spurred by their dangerous lifestyle. Pug's story is coupled with unprecedented, action-packed coverage of the riders in their element. The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy's life growing up in one of the most dangerous and economically depressed cities in the US.